American Horror Story: The New Family
by effystoned
Summary: The Murder House has been up for sale since after Christmas. The Harmons are dead, Violet and Tate are broken up, and Violet has her 'happy family.' But when a new family moves in, life takes a tragic turn for the Woods. Told from POV of Scarlett.
1. Moving

I stared out the car window. I was being quiet, not like I didn't except us to move again. It had been happening since I was practically a fetus. My dad has this obsession with traveling across the entire country just so I can "learn from experience rather than paper." We started in New York and we were finally in California, 15 years later. I had seen almost the entire country by now. We'd been to half of the states because my dad wanted to work his way around and then go back and start from the middle again. Did he care that no one wanted to move? No. Did he care that I practically had no friends other than them? No. We're "living the American dream." More like the American nightmare.

"Look at this big city!" I heard my father say from the front.

I rolled my eyes and leaned my head on the window. "Can I vomit yet?" I sneered. This whole trip was bullshit and they knew it.

"Oh, come on, Scarlett. We're practically in Hollywood!" My mother said as she looked back at me. She was trying to be enthusiastic, but as always, was failing. Her fake excitement was the entire reason my dad thought this was fun for us. I knew she didn't like this either, but it was something for her; unlike me, where I basically hated it all.

"Who cares? A bunch of fake girls in high heels sounds really fascinating." I said sarcastically.

"You always said you wanted to be an actress, here's your big break." My dad tried to smile at me from the rearview mirror. My face turned from distasted to a half smile, trying to brush off the fact that he was right.

"Let's just get there and move on like you wanted, okay?" I said trying to be somewhat optimistic towards our situation.

I saw my mother whisper something my father. My mother turned towards me from the front seat again. "You know, sweetie, your father and I were talking about maybe settling down here for a little. We know this is hard for you and maybe you can make some friends and have some memories…" my mother left the sentence hanging there.

The moment she said it, it caught my attention. "St-stay?" I stuttered, trying to contain my happiness, "I'd like that." I smiled sweetly and tried not to show how happy I really was. Finally, I would have a home. Maybe this wasn't as bad as I made it out to be.

I saw the house. It was big, and a faded red color. It was old and it looked like it had been repaired a bunch of times to look like this. Some of the windows were new, others were old. It wasn't my style at all, but who knows; maybe I'd like it. I had to start being optimistic again.

I followed the real-estate agent inside with my parents. The house had a dreary inside and it looked like the house itself was dead. The space felt sad, closed, like something had died here. Morbid was a good word.

"This house is over 90 years old, and was restored by previous owners. The owners before you committed suicide, but not to worry, this house still has spirit." The realtor said.

I smirked and rolled my eyes. Spirit? More like it was dead. My parents seemed to like it, as they were walking around and touching some things. "The house has been on the market since a little before Christmas, so not too long. You can go upstairs and look around if you want."

That was my queue to go upstairs and have a look. I was the only one to go, which I didn't mind; alone time. I walked up the steps and came to the hallway. A few rooms were lined down the hallway and I walked into a bedroom. It was nice, maybe I'd make it mine. I leaned against a wall in there and took out my iPod to play some games.

"So you're the new girl?"

I froze there and my eyes didn't want to look up at the boy standing there. I knew it was a boy from the voice, and I guess he could sense I was totally terrified by him being there because he stepped closer and looked down at me while waving his hand in front of my face. I finally looked up at the boy and he looked at me for a few seconds before smiling. "I'm Tate."

"Scarlett." That was the only thing I could say because I was really scared of how close he was to me and why the hell he was in this house. "Why the hell are you here? You know this place is up for sale, right? That realtor lady will kick yo-" I stopped talking because it was obvious he didn't care.

"I'm your neighbor. I live right next to you, with my mom and my sister." He was still smiling at me so I decided to try to smile back. It came out as a half assed smile that may have looked like I was creeped out by him. I was, but I wasn't going to show it so fast. He stepped back a few feet and leaned on the bed frame, crossing his arms.

"You never told me why you were here." I said trying to be calmer.

"I come by here sometimes to get away from my mother. It's quiet time." Tate told me.

How bad was his mother that he went to an entirely different building to get away from her? Whatever, this guy is nice, I guess… "You know that's breaking and entering, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but people break laws all the time. No big difference here since no one was living here." He shrugged and came closer to me.

I nodded my head. He had a point there, and I had no argument. "So, Tate…" I had nothing to say at this point because I'm a typically boring person. I moved closer, flirting a tiny bit. He was cute, so I would flirt.

"Yes?" He smiled when I stepped closer.

"Do you have a last name?" I smiled along with him, trying to make conversation.

"Langdon. Tate Langdon." His name reminded me of something and I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Tate Langdon? Are you famous or something? I think I heard your name a few times…" I asked puzzled. Tate's face immediately turned to a more surprised look and he hesitated before answering me. "Um, I guess you could say that…"

"Are you an actor? You know, acting is my dream." I bit my lip and waited for his answer. Maybe I had met an actor already! I could maybe hang out with him and see what famous life was like…

"No, sorry." His mouth scrunched to the right as he made a half bemused face. "I've been in the paper a few times, so maybe that's it. Nothing too big."

"Oh…" I said with a wave of disappointment. "That's okay, it wasn't a big de-" I was cut off by the sound of my father's voice.

"Scarlett, who are you talking to?" He asked me as I turned around.

"Oh, just a frie-" I turned to motion to Tate, but he was gone. I looked around everywhere and my face turned into a puzzled one. _Had I really just imagined a boy named Tate? Am I really that desperate for friends?_ I sighed and looked back to my dad. "No one I guess…" I started to walk out of the room and I looked back once more to see if he had hid on me. He wasn't in sight. My mind couldn't make sense of things. _How was he there and then not there? How did he run away so fast?_

"Oh, we decided to buy the house." My dad said wrapping his arm around mine as we walked down the hall. I looked into some of the other rooms as we passed them. I looked in one as we passed it, and saw a girl staring at me. She was around my age and when I saw her my eyes widened. _What the hell is wrong with you? You're seeing things. _

As I got was setting up my new room, the one I had previously met Tate in, I heard someone knock on my open door.

"Knock, knock." My mother's voice rang as she walked in.

"Yeah?" I asked as I looked back up at my mother.

"Your father said you were talking to some imaginary boy?" My mother said sitting down on the edge of my bed and setting her hand on my calf.

"There _was_ a boy here. Actually, there was a girl here too. She looked a lot like me, and the boy was named Tate Langdon. I swear to god, mom. He was here." I told her, trying to convince her that they were here.

"Honey, we talked about this. If you're ever feeling like you're going crazy, we can get you an evalua-" I cut her short to roll my eyes and defend myself. "I'm not crazy! And I would tell you if I was feeling that way. There was a boy here."

My mother sighed and started to rub my calf. "I know it's rough for you. If you ever need anyone to talk to who is actually here, just tell me." She smiled at me. "Tate Langdon was his name?"

"Yeah, he was blonde and tall, dark brown eyes." I told her. "He was flirting with me."

"You know, before you were born, there was some news about some kid named Tate near this area…" My mother said trying to put her finger on it. My mother had gotten up at this point and was in my door's threshold ready to leave. "Maybe the woman next door can help me figure it out. Well, if you need anything…." My mother left the sentence hanging for me to finish as she walked out.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I smiled and looked back down at my computer screen, only to hear my door close.

"Knock, knock." I heard Tate's voice say.

I instantly looked up and closed my computer. I was shocked to see him behind my door. "Tate?" I said getting out of bed and walked up to him. "How long where you-"

"So I guess everyone's heard of me?" Tate smirked. I genuinely had no idea what to say to him at this point because I was still getting over the shock of him being here.

"Yeah…how did you leave so fast this morning? My dad didn't even see you." I asked him as I leaned on the bed's frame.

"I heard him coming and I hid. Sorry they think you're crazy. You said you saw a girl that looked like you, right?" Tate asked stepping closer to me so I had to look up at him.

"Yeah, blonde hair, brown eyes. She was wearing this dress and cardigan thing…she was watching me and it was creepy as fuck." I admitted to him. "Why?"

"That girl is Violet…" he seemed to get sad as he mentioned her name. "But, don't worry, I don't think she'll be bothering you." Tate said as he took my hands and held them. I looked down at his gesture, almost scared of what he was doing. I looked back up and pursed my lips into a half smile.

"Why was she here though? Is she, like, your sister or something?" I asked him.

"Ex-girlfriend." He said she his hands let go of mind and his face became sadder.

"I'm sorry. Forget I mentioned her." I said, cursing myself silently and shaking my head.

"It's alright. Hey, tomorrow night meet me in the basement, okay?" Tate asked as he brightened up slightly.

"Sure. Do you want me to sneak you back to your house or are you some magician that will magically disappear again?" I joked.

He chuckled a bit. "I got it, but thanks." He said before leaving.

Tomorrow night should be interesting.


	2. Basement

Out of the many places we had stayed, I had always avoided any type of basement or attic. I didn't like tiny and dark spaces; I didn't like feeling trapped. I would try something new for this guy though because he seemed nice and the way he held my hands made me feel warm inside even though his hands were the temperature of ice.

He hadn't specified a time, but I had assumed it would be after my parents had gone to sleep. 11 o'clock and I was looking in the mirror to make sure all was well with my makeup. A dark and bold eye was what I had decided and the black usually lite up the blue in mine. I approached the door to the basement finally, standing there for a few seconds to decide if this was okay. Another question that plagued me was how exactly was he getting in the house? And why _my basement_ and not his? Scratch that, not even a basement, just like a park or something. It was odd, but in the moment I had agreed and now I wasn't going to be a pussy and turn back.

I turned the door handle and flicked on the switch for the lights. My eyes looked around the interior of the cold and damp room, and I felt my heartbeat go faster in my chest. I walked a few steps down and looked around for any sign of him, hoping that he would already be here. Seeing nothing I sighed and continued downwards until I was finally on the concrete floor. "Tate?" my voice echoed through the basement walls. Just as I said that, I heard the door open and I looked up to see something even more shocking – Violet.

The blonde haired girl rushed down the stairs to me and before I could even really react she covered my mouth. "Don't make a fucking sound. I need to tell you something before you go on this little "date."

I just stared, terrified. How was she in my house again? Was there some kind of secret tunnel leading to our house that these people were coming through? And how did she know that Tate had asked me to meet him here?

"You probably think he's harmless. You probably think he's charming too. He's not. _**He's a monster**_, Scarlett. And I'm not going to have another person stay here forever." Violet told me sternly.

I was so confused and bewildered. What was happening right now? The only reasonable thing I could think of what that it was a bad breakup, but that didn't explain what she meant by "stay here forever."

Just as quick as she had come though, she was now gone and I was staring at an empty basement. I looked around, confused and scared. My heartbeat felt like it was going a million miles an hour and things felt blurry. I started for the stairs, only to see Tate opening the door and coming down to meet me. Something again unexplained was the door. Hadn't she opened it and been here? Tate had a wide smile on his face as he saw me, and chuckled lightly as he saw me.

"You get a little scared?" He asked me.

I nodded my head slowly and looked to the ground, completely in confusion. Tate sensed this and I heard him rush down the stairs a bit faster. He came to where I was and put his hands on the sides of my arms for comfort, ducking his head down to look at mine. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I scrunched my eyes together, "I'm fine – fine." I lied. I looked back to him and smiled, in my mind still trying to process what Violet had said to me.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry, I didn't know you were already here." Tate said sincerely, his expression changing to one of slightly guilt.

"Oh, no, the basement was just so quiet that the sound of you opening the door just spooked me a little." I chuckled nervously, trying to get him to believe that he truly had spooked me.

Of course, I couldn't ask him anything about his ex-girlfriend. No, it was off-limits and would definitely kill the mood. It was so strange though what she did and where she came from. Although, I could ask him about how he got here.

Before I could get a word in, he started to speak. "Will this make up for it?" he asked and proceed to kiss me. It was a hard, passionate kiss and I was taken aback by it. I'd only kissed one boy before this and it wasn't anything like this. I responded as best as I could and he pulled back, a smirk on his face. "You never kissed anyone before."

My cheeks tinted pink opened my mouth to a shocked smile, "Y-yeah, I have." I said, my voice breaking slightly. "Tons." I half joked with him, but if he believed it, I wouldn't correct him.

"You don't have to lie. It's fine." Tate let out a breathy laugh, "I'll teach you sometime."

My eyebrows raised as the offer and I smirked, trying to be a bit coy. "Maybe."

Tate rolled his eyes with a smile at my attempt at flirting. Boys weren't something I was very experienced in, seeing as though I'd never had a boyfriend or even regular friends to begin with. Although, with Tate it felt natural; like I didn't need to try to get a smile out of him – or even a kiss for that matter.

"I gotta know something, how do you keep getting in here without my parents seeing you? Is there some secret tunnel I don't know about?" I laughed lightly to keep the mood up and not sound accusing or suspicious.

He chuckled, "I used to live here so I know a few shortcuts in and stuff. Nothing to wake your rents or anything like that. I slip in and out without even a hint I was here." Tate smirked slightly.

I felt so comfortable, I was tempted to ask about Violet, but I decided that was for another time. Maybe a day that I wasn't so scared she'd appear again and tell me something vague and crazy.

"They said the last owners committed suicide. When'd you live here?"

"Yeah, that was….tragic." Tate's voice seemed to fade when he spoke, "When I was younger. We moved next door because my mom couldn't afford this house, but she liked the neighborhood."

I then noticed Tate's eyes seem to linger on something in the back of me and I turned to look, although only blackness was there. I turned back and smiled at him, and he gave me a sigh and smile.

"I really like you, Scarlett." He finally said after a few moments of silence.

"I like you too, Tate, but we don't really know each other yet." I finally said, hearing Violet's word echoing in the back of mind my. I pulled myself away from him, stepping towards the stairs. "I'm really tired, okay? I'm gonna go to bed. I got school in the morning. You go to school, right?"

"Nope, homeschooled. My mom doesn't trust public school." Tate gave a saddened laugh and a shrug.

"Ah, so that's why you were snooping in the neighbor's home. You're always at your own." I smiled to him, trying to lift the mood. I approached him once again and gave him a softer smile, "Goodnight, Tate." I said, leaning up and giving him a soft kiss.

When I looked back to his face he smiled a hopeful smile, and this was my queue that I could head back upstairs. I started up the stairs before stopping midway and looking back down. "Tomorrow night, meet me in my room, okay? I don't like it down here." He gave me a quick nod and I hurried back up, closing the door behind me and going to bed for the night.


	3. School

School had always been hard, well, at least in the states that I went to school. My dad had been called so many times by the truancy police for not bringing me to school or just ditching for another town. Apparently the US doesn't like it if you're constantly traveling, they actually frown upon it. Mom said we might stay though, so I guess I would have to learn to like this school.

"Okay, I would like to welcome our new student as well, Scarlett Woods." Ms. Howard said, gesturing towards me and giving a wide and welcoming smile.

I had zoned out and when I heard my name I finally came back to earth. I gave a curt smile to everyone who looked towards me. It was very apparent who all the groups were in the room. You had the football players, the stoners, the nerds, and the girls who were there just to be pretty. I tried my best not to judge, but I did notice that I didn't seem to belong anywhere. I didn't very much fancy sports, I did do some drugs but not a lot, I wasn't as smart in school terms, and I didn't just want to sit around and look pretty and waiting for a football player to come nail me.

"Scarlett, at the beginning of the year we did an activity where we said something interesting about ourselves. Would you care to do that?" Ms. Howard asked, an encouraging smile following it.

Ms. Howard was one of those teachers who tried really hard to be a nice person while also trying not to get pushed over for being one. You could tell from the blonde hair and her slim physique that she was also one of the "hot" teachers. She taught English, which to basically everyone in this room was the biggest blow off class they were currently taking, but Ms. Howard had a certain peacefulness about her. I was almost drawn to her, and I didn't understand why.

"Sure." I said, and she motioned for me to stand up. I stood up, "I'm Scarlett and, uhm,…" I looked around the room, searching for some type of interesting fact. "The last people who lived in our house committed suicide."

Ms. Howard's smile faded as I sat back down, and my other classmates only looked around and gave each other strange looks. "Well, that's certainly an interesting fact about yourself." She said, trying to lighten the mood. She turned towards the board, and I could tell she was trying to shake off my "interesting fact."

When class was finally done, I started to gather my things to leave when suddenly I was surrounded by 3 or 4 people. "Is it true you live in the murder house?" one of them asked. "The last girl who lived there ran away with her mom's baby after her parents committed suicide, I heard." Another of them chimed in. I didn't have enough time to process anything they were saying, and I only furrowed my brows. "Yeah, Leah went fucking crazy after going over to Violet's. Her entire face had been slashed open. " Said another one. "Wouldn't be surprised. It was the house Tate Langdon was killed in."

"Violet? Tate?" Suddenly they had my full attention. "Sh-she ran away with her mom's baby after they committed suicide?" I asked, confused and a bit scared. Now even more questions had arisen. "Wait, Tate Langdon. Who is that?" Of course I knew who Tate was, but to hear he was killed only furthered my interest.

"You don't know who Tate is? In 1994 he came here and killed like 15 people. The librarian is in a wheelchair because of it. The police chased him to his house and killed him. Every year they have a memorial for it on the day he did it." Another person said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I stared at them in awe. It couldn't be possible what they were saying, could it? There had to be some explanation as to why she had met him. He had been using the dead kid's name as some sick joke, right? My bag dropped to the floor and I felt dizzy again. I picked it up quickly and rushed past the small gathering, trying to get out of the situation as soon as possible. They were lying, weren't they? Tate had found my schedule and knew some kids and he paid them to prank me or something. He couldn't actually be dead, he just couldn't be. It wouldn't make any sense.

As I rushed down the stairs I heard my name being called. "Scarlett, honey, wait." I turned and saw Ms. Howard, and my eyes were practically lined with tears from confusion. She walked towards me and put her hands on my back to gently guide me back into her classroom, which was now empty.

She closed the door behind us and sat me down in one of the desks. She sat down in one in the front of me. "So, you've met them, haven't you?" she asked.

I stared at her, not even know how to respond. "W-who?"

"Violet, Tate. You live in that house, don't you?" Ms. Howard asked. It was all so confusing. I had so many questions as to what was happening at that moment, why the house was so special and why there were so special.

"Yeah, but Tate isn't dead though, I saw him – I talked to him." I insisted, "He kissed me. He's realy, he has to be alive. Violet is too, she talked to me. That was all bullshit they were saying, right?"

Ms. Howard only sighed and shook her head, "No, it wasn't. They are both dead. The house you are living in is crowded with spirits. There are 20 or so of them. Violet and her family all reside there, and Tate does too." She started, but her look suddenly became intense. "Do not let him drag you in – Tate. He will. He kissed you, you say? Violet told him to go away, that's how you get rid of a spirit. You tell them to go away and they will. Tell him to go away, or else you will end up with the rest of them."

I looked at her in terror, a tear running down my cheek. This wasn't possible. None of this was possible, it simply couldn't be. "You have such a powerful and light energy, that's why he's attracted to you. Others will be too_._"

I started to shake my head rapidly, getting up from the desk. "You're fucking crazy, you're all fucking crazy!" I yelled. I ran to the door, flinging it open and running down the stairs and out of the school.


End file.
